IT’S THE TIME of year when civil grand jury findings begin to trickle out — reports compiled by citizen watchdogs that investigate local governments and hold them accountable for working in the best interest of citizens.
One thing these juries don’t often do is name names; instead, they focus their scope on systems that seem to have broken down in some way and offer solutions of how to fix them.
That is what makes a recently released civil grand jury report out of San Joaquin County so remarkable. It not only names someone — local gadfly, political consultant and news site creator Motecuzoma Sanchez — it lays the blame for profound city government dysfunction primarily at the feet of his website, 209 Times.
Entitled “Crisis in Government,” the jury investigated claims of ruptured trust and toxicity in Stockton’s system, among other dysfunctions.
“Harassed, Threatened, Coerced, Bullied, Afraid,” reads the intro to the first section of the report. “These words are used by witnesses to describe the atmosphere for those working in Stockton City Hall.”
The vitriol and rancor came to a head in March 2023, when City Councilmember Brando Villapudua filed a restraining order against Sanchez barely two months after he took the seat. A temporary restraining order was issued but a permanent order was later denied by a judge.
Number cruncher
Sanchez’s site 209 Times, named for a San Joaquin County area code, describes itself as independent, community-driven and grassroots. In an April post, Sanchez published his resignation letter sent after leaving the Stockton Charter Review Advisory Commission, which he was appointed to by Councilmember Michele Padilla. In it, he accuses the city’s mayor and City Council of “protecting child predators.”
Sanchez has used his site to accuse Villapudua of being a “child molester.” No charges for such crimes have ever been filed against Villapudua, according to the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s office.
The grand jury report doesn’t specifically address that issue, but investigates claims that there was or is a mole on the council that leaked information to Sanchez from closed session meetings — a violation of the Brown Act, a state law concerning government transparency. This information led Villapudua, who is not named in the grand jury report but is the person who filed the restraining order, to fear for his safety, the report said.
“The city councilperson alleged that the threats received were based on confidential information from a Stockton City Council Closed Session meeting that had just ended 30 minutes prior to the incident,” reads the jury’s report. “Knowledge of that confidential information would indicate a Brown Act violation by someone present in the closed session.”
According to the jury, the Brown Act violation was investigated by an outside firm hired by the city attorney and found to be credible, but neither the findings of the firm nor the report have been released to the public.
The jury also investigated allegations from city employees and officials that 209 Times associates would “vilify” and “unfairly attack” them if they if did not agree with and/or support the positions pushed by the publication.
The jury called out 209 Times (which it refers to as SMP, or social media platform) for purporting to report news but not following the standards set by the Society of Professional Journalists.
“The information posted is presented in a slanted and/or politically biased way to create perceived ‘facts,’ says the report. “Unfortunately, as is often the case with current social media, the content of posts is perceived by the reader as real and true. The SMP is misleading the public by failing to follow the SPJ standards.”
Sanchez calls report ‘a political hit piece’
The jury said Sanchez has defended his site as free speech and that “the SMP claims that they are not a news agency and therefore cannot be held to the same ethical standards for news agencies regarding the verification of facts.”
Asked for his response to the grand jury report, Sanchez was defiant and pointed the finger back at the city.
“The recent grand jury ‘report’ is further proof of how deep the corruption runs in the City of Stockton,” he said in an email Thursday. “It is a political hit piece by powerful interests and their political allies/operatives.”
Sanchez alleges that someone appointed to the civil grand jury is a part of the “Stockton Cabal” that targets him. He also denies that there is a mole on the council that is feeding him information. Instead, he says it was Villapudua himself that leaked information from a closed session by “bragging loudly on the phone to someone about how the vote happened regarding the corrupt city manager Harry Black.”
“The grand jury made no attempt to interview myself or anyone in my organization, nor have they qualified a single claim of ‘intimidation’ or ‘unlawful threats,’ which is a criminal action.” Motecuzoma Sanchez, 209 Times founder
Discussing Black was indeed on the closed session agenda of the City Council last October, and former Vice Mayor Christina Fugazi went on the record during public comment to call out what she said was a hostile work environment under Black that she said included “intimidation” and “bullying.”
The grand jury didn’t mention the city manager but found that 209 Times and its associates continually harass and bully city entities and hamper the workings of government and create a threatening working environment.
Witnesses reported receiving “constant” emails, letters, phone calls and comments made in public demanding actions from associates of Sanchez. But they also found that the behavior is facilitated by members of the City Council who “enable” Sanchez to continue his campaign of harassment. This in turn has generated distrust with the Council from city employees.
Sanchez said that no one on the grand jury bothered to talk to him for the report.
“The grand jury made no attempt to interview myself or anyone in my organization, nor have they qualified a single claim of ‘intimidation’ or ‘unlawful threats,’ which is a criminal action,” he said in an email. “They also have also provided not a single example of any articles we published that were not factual.”
City Council acting as enabler
The jury recommends that the council cut off ties to Sanchez and “stop enabling” the 209 Times from “interfering with effective city government through their continued association and/or support of individuals associated with the SMP.”
The jury also wants a plan for dealing with unlawful threats to city staff and elected officials that are not covered under the First Amendment, and recommends referring them to the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office.
As for Brown Act violations, the jury points out that the city has spent taxpayer money investigating the violations yet citizens have not been privy to the findings.
“The purpose of the Brown Act is ensure transparency in government,” reads the report.
The jury also noted that not even their body was allowed to see the report, saying that the city cited attorney-client privilege.
One of the powers of a civil grand jury is to have access to information that not even some journalists can obtain.
But in another dysfunctional twist, the Brown Act investigation’s existence and findings were released by a councilmember on official city letterhead, according to the jury — something they say is another Brown Act violation — and it was then put on social media.
The jury found that releasing the missive on letterhead “misleads the public to believe the content reflects an official City position,” adding that some council members have shown an “open disregard” for the Brown Act.
For these Brown Act violations, the public has yet to see any penalties assessed, the jury said.
Recommendations by the jury include strengthening rules around closed meeting confidentiality, including disallowing any phones or recording devices in the chamber. Harsher penalties should be had for violating the Brown Act, including “mandatory public censure” and removal from committees and commissions. Any investigations into Brown Act violations should also be made available to civil grand juries when requested.
The conclusion of the report pulls no punches.
“The efficient and ethical governing of the City of Stockton is under attack by both external and internal forces,” it reads. “This must be stopped.”
Sanchez is equally as determined to continue his coverage in the wake of the jury’s report.
“It only highlights the continued need for our work and reinforces our determination to destroy the corrupt actors who have taken control of local government and abused their positions to the point they would try to hinder our First Amendment rights,” he said. “We will not be dissuaded.”
Generally, civil grand juries recommend responses to their reports from city or county officials. In “Crisis in Government,” the jury only asks that specific responses to all findings and recommendations contained in this report be submitted to the Presiding Judge of the San Joaquin County Superior Court within 90 days of receipt of the report.
